I had the delight of attending the Paley Center's exclusive preview of CW's new shows last night (yes, I willingly chose to go to the CW one, I had the options of attending ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS as well, but I love myself a good teen drama). When the emcee asked what we were most excited about this fall, an excited fan yelled, "Ringer, because Buffy is back." True that, my friend. True that!I saw the highly anticipated (and that anticipation was well-worth it) debut of Ringer, with all of its Sarah Michelle Gellar-ness, two hours before its world premiere! I am so pumped for the next episode of this murder/deception mystery (film noir, as they used to call it in the days of Bogie and Bacall), which focuses on a pair of estranged twins.
The Cliff's Notes:
If you can't catch the re-broadcast on Friday night, Bridget is a down-on her luck recovering drug addict and former dancer. Six years ago, she ruined her relationship with her twin, Sibbohan, and it had something to do with an accident to a toddler boy. Sibbohan flees from Wyoming instead of testifying in a murder trial,m and goes top visit her well-off married sister, who has finally forgiven her. They take a boat trip, Bridget wakes up to find her sister apparently having committed suicide via drowning, and nothing but an engagement ring a purse. Bridget escapes her life by becoming her sister (nobody knows Sibbohan had a twin), and finds herself in more trouble than before. She's now got a cold husband, druggie teen stepdaughter, suspicious best friend, and lover (husband of suspicious best friend). And the doctor called to tell her (sister) she's pregnant. Someone's trying to kill her new persona, the feds are after her old one, and guess what? Sibbohan is alive and well, and living in Paris. There ends episode 1.
The more easy-paced Hart of Dixie marked the return of OC's Rachel Bilson to TV. Typical hotshot is exiled from the city and takes refuge as a doctor in a small town (reminds me vaguely of the setup to USA's Royal Pains). Dr. Zoe Hart (funny, I kept wanting to call her Roxie, damn that Chicago), accepts a GP position in Bluebell, Alabama, after half of a practice is left to her. I enjoyed how many times Bluebell was said during the episode and only wish I'd had a drink handy so we could play a little game to go along with the count. She's out of place and out of soul. her dreams of being a cardiothorasic surgeon are slipping (she got passed over for poor bedside manner, a chip off the old Cristina Yang) and she needs to learn some general skill before being considered for next year;s fellowship. She's got three possible love interests: a pretty southern gent George (lawyer be trade, savior by action, engaged to a girl named Lemon), football star turned mayor Lavon (apparently a former secret lover of Lemon, but her family would disapprove of him because of Jim Crow laws), and a rude but vaguely hot, Dixie-loving caretaker, Wade.
Plus, Zoe finds out she was left the practice because the strange old man who kept courting her was really her dad, and her "real" father has been pulling distance for years because he couldn't deal with his wife's indiscretion. There's some Gilmore Girls-esque potential in the small town if they spend a little less time focusing on the differences between Yankees and the other folk.
The Secret Circle recycles Britt Robertson from last year's Life Unexpected, and throws a whole bunch of Charmed-ish witchery with some Twilight. There's six founding families (if you're getting whiffs of Vampire Diaries, you're not far off, its from the same producers), and each generation's got witches, (I'm guessing all these kids are only children to keep this idea less complicated). The witches form this coven, the circle, and Cassie seems to be the key and the most powerful . Cassie is lured to town to live with her grandma after her mom is killed in a violent magic fire, and it seems like some bad voodoo went down to kill her dad when she was infantile, forcing her mom to run in the first place. Cassie suddenly is told by the other kids she's a witch.
Here I must interject: the magic on this show has been super lame for starters, it was all manipulations of the elements, fire, water etc... But I'm hoping it will get better. The Charmed angle mostly came from feel, the house Casie lives in in very "manor"-esque: Tiffany lamps, dark paneling, fireplaces, cute porch, doting curly haired grandma.
As for the Twilight element- there was some definite running through woods, keeping supernatural elements a secret, the setting of Washington, and some longing stares from the brunette guy that had the whole crowd laughing. Cassie is destined to be with brunette guy, according to his drunk father, just like her mom was destined to be with this guy, before she chose Cassie's dad and apparently threw off fate. And Cassie is befriended by a mean girl, Faye, a selfish *itch, and a nice girl, Diana who is dating brunette guy, which will only lead to trouble. Ah, now here's the plot twist, the parents, who must have sworn off magic after some bad voodoo that killed Cassie's dad and others, they know their kids have discovered their coven. And Diana's dad and Faye's mom are up to no good and plan to use Cassie in their evil voodoo magic plan. Interest in the show- I'll watch episode 2, and begin to make Dawson's Creek connections!
